When Iron Sharpens Iron
Two Hunters Meet Deep in the dense woods of the Sierra Joya Mountains, the swordsman Ronin Kuro is walking though the woods, he heard that there is a monster that may be worth hunting in these woods. Though he sky is clear, it is obscured by the canopy of leaves that only allow some sunlight to filter to the forest floor. A symphony of chirping birds combined with the rustle of leaves at the top of the trees being blown in the wind fill his ears. It is the perfect day for a hunt. The swordsman stops when he spots a dead deer lying on the brown and green floor coated with leaves. Someone else is hunting here. Perhaps for an animal or maybe fore the same mark Ronin seeks. Lars O'Ryenne is on his way from setting another trap to check up on his first when he spots Ronin within the dense vegetation using his eyes that have trained their whole lives to pick out plant-from-animal. His heart races alongside his legs as worry and panic overtake his rational thinking; he knows that this man i dangerously close to the trap he made. As he is dodging bushes and even some poison ivy, he shouts "Sir, get away from there!" loud enough to clear the area of all wildlife, possibly including the monster he is after. Ronin looks to the man and blinks before speaking "Not only have you chased away whatever target you are after you may have chased away mine as well. I was well aware there was a trap there. A vary well made one that was not easy to spot at first but I still noticed it." "I know i might have scared it away- and i appreciate the compliment, but your safety is more important. That trap is made to put down a monster the mass of 30 elephants. Well, more like 27 but, please sir, step backward form where you are. You are at the edge of the pitfall. Plus, now i have to relocate this trap." Lars' breathing slowed steadily as Ronin complied. he stood about 3 meters away from the dead deer and went down to his knees and rolled down the sleeve of his camo-sweater to reveal a mechanical arm that juxtaposed his tan skin. He reached his arm all the way through a small hole he made in the false surface of the trap that was sturdy enough to bear a human's weight, but also fragile enough that any creature larger than a cheetah would fall through and meet their fate with the five unseen electrically charged lacrima laying at the bottom. He said, "Requip" as a faint yellow light filtered from the small cracks in the pitfall trap cover. Ronin watched as the man uses requip magic and explained himself a bit, he took a few steps back from the pitfall as he kept an eye on the man, looking him over. "A hunter with requip magic. I myself use requip and hunt monsters. Retirement is boring so it's good to have a hobby." he chuckles lightly "I was never in any real danger but your concern is welcome." at this point the swordsman realizes he forgot something. "My name is Ronin Kuro." he bows lightly "What is yours?" "My name is Lars O'Ryenne. I am a member of the Orion's Belt Guild in Citronella." Lars steps forward and shakes Ronin's hand with a grip as confident as the stranger's. "I'm sorry for potentially scaring away your target. if it makes you feel better, i basically screwed up my chances of finding the Leaf Wyvern I am after. Considering you said you were after a monster in these parts of the Sierra Joya's, and considering that you look like someone who has no time for small-fry, I assume you are after a Leaf Wyvern as well? I mean, that is the only big game in this little corner of the country." Ronin nods "I am after this Leaf Wyvern, I heard a few things about it. Attacks on people and towns here and there. So I came to put it down. It also sounds like it could be a nice challenge. Even lesser dragons are strong, but unlike dragons you can still find them and I don't think I'd fare well on a true dragon. No one has ever killed one. Now that I think of it I should be equipped for fighting dragon-kin and not in my normal outfit. But I guess it can wait till I'm sure it's here. Don't want to use my magic and find out there is nothing to hunt." "Smart move. Me, I used a little bit of magic because i intended to trap and put down this creature. But since i made a big ruckus, that went out the window." Lars pointed to the north. "My second trap is about three kilometers north, within a clearing. I came back to check up on this one in case it activated. As for this leaf wyvern, there are a few around, but one of them has been attacking towns near the border which is only seven Kilometers north of here. Generally, they attack when provoked or when some creature encroaches on their territory like most monsters, but this one seems to be... going a little too much out of its way." He paused for a moment and observed Ronin. "I would be worried about you going after this thing, but you seem capable to take it on. However, I would assume that you are not from these parts and I think you need someone who is not only equally as capable, but also very knowledgeable about the target. Plus, I am also after this thing so... wanna team up and snuff this thing?" "Having a local could be a help as I don't know this area, having info on what I'm fighting is always good too. Just don't get in my way. I'd rather not hurt you by mistake." Ronin then moves a bit to the side "Lead the way to this town that's been attacked, I'd like to look over the area." Talk in the Forest Lars and Ronin both trekked the dense woods, walking north to a town called Thunberg. Along the way, they stopped so that Lars can disassemble the second trap he set down. As they continued forward, Lars spoke up. "Hey, Ronin, did you mention before that you use Requip as well?" He asked "Yeah, my requip arsenal is meant to combat monsters and magic types often used by monster types. What's your requip set up for?" Ronin seemed genially interested in knowing. "Mine is set up for the exact same thing. Though, I don't just have weapons and armor, but also equipment to set up traps as well as tents for camping out. I also summon food and rocks." Lars smiled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you would be a member of my guild based on what you just said." "I don't do guilds, they tend to get in the way. It is easier to find a job but I'm not all that good with people. Not normally." He keeps focused on the path ahead. "I like to take on my target head on. I don't plan or trapping it or taking it alive. True monsters don't get the benefit of catch and release." "Well, there is something for everybody, and if people isn't one of those things that's for you, I can understand why you wouldn't join a guild. I am in the Orion's belt because I am too much of a team player to be able to work alone. Though I am out here by myself because it is summer and many people in my guild would rather be someplace nicer than in the woods on the other side of the country. As for taking it head on, I would have much preferred to trap the thing then give it a swift and painless death, but since I made all that noise, I am going to have to resort to a different strategy since Leaf Wyverns have excellent hearing." Lars looked up at Ronin who was still intent on the path ahead. "You know what a Leaf Wyvern is capable of, correct?" "Not really, I assume it uses wind magic. But since it's dragon-kin I'll just dress for that. If it does not work out I can requip something that works better." Ronin reaches out with his right hand that holds his katana and it vanishes with a flash and a new weapon takes it's place, the holy phoenix blade. "Swords are easy to requip, armor can be a bit of a pain." he explains simply "Wrong. The Leaf Wyvern utilized electricity to hunt down prey. It feeds mainly on birds, and these wyverns aren't really huge. they are bigger than humans, of course, but the biggest one I've seen was only 13 feet long, 7 feet tall, and with a 16-foot wingspan. They store magic in an organ close to their heart, but they spread it around using their wings that have brown and green leaf-like scales. Their wings also look like dying leaves you see on the forest floor. That said, they can camouflage pretty well on the ground because they can really flatten their bodies, so be careful where you step." Lars explained. "Ah, not to bad. I can use my lightning armor and my anti-dragon weapon." He requips back to his normal sword. "But for now I'll save the energy." He sheathes his katana. "How mach farther to the town?" Ronin adjusted his vambraces as he asked. "We are will be there very soon. give it another 15 minute walk." After Lars spoke, they both walked silently. after a few minutes, Lars spoke up once more as he pulled up his left sleeve to reveal a mechanical arm decorated with dirt and scratches of varying lengths.. "You know, Armor is a pain to requip, but these arms are truly annoying to use with Requip. I have to dismount them before i can swap them out, and if am not wearing my Requip Arm, the process is much slower. This here is my requip arm, by the way. Without it, i am extremely slow to summon equipment on the left side of my body." "That must suck. I've taken hits to switch armor mid-combat but I've never lost a limb. I mean look at these scares. Some of them are as old as I am. I want you to think about what that implies for a moment. Let it sink in." A tree falls as if cut, but Ronin never even drew his blade. "I wouldn't want to think of you getting hurt as a small child, my dude." Lars responded "I was battle born" Ronin explains "As in literally born in the heat of it. Don't ask what my mom was doing out on a battlefield while about to give birth. Sometimes things happen. Some monsters, they wear human skin. They feel no remorse in ending the life of a newborn." Ronin grips his sword "I've been in one kind of fight or another my entire life, even though I retired from being a soldier, battle finds me and my blood starts to boil. It aches for me to hop into the fray. It calls to me even in my sleep." Edgy. Lars thought to himself. He dared not speak his sarcastic mind with a person he just met, so he said, "Well, It sounds hard to believe you were born in the middle of a battlefield, but there are all kinds of people in a world like Earth-Land, so I suppose i have to open my mind a little more. Well, if battle is what you seek, I can tell you about the most dangerous monsters I know, where to find them, and how to fight them after we put this wyvern down." Lars looked at Ronin's sword. "And... maybe we can trade weapons?" Ronin looks to Lars with a raised eyebrow "Trade weapons?" He lets go of the grip on his sword. "No, but if you want a new weapon I do know a guy. A blacksmith of unmatched caliber. He's the one that made all my weapons minus the katana. That is a... family heirloom." He looks away from Lars and back down the path. "Whoops, sorry, didn't know. We all have weapons that mean a lot to us." A few minutes passed, and they entered a glade carpeted with amber-blue waves of grass that flowed like water with the never-ceasing breeze. At the center, one could see sepia colored straw houses, and to the left, a clearing of the glade marked by charcoal. "This is definitely Thunberg." Lars said while taking in the view. Thunberg "Good, now I can look at some of the stuff in this town and even the damage. Maybe I'll find out why this place is being attacked. If leaf wyverns don't normally attack unless provoked, I might find something the town did to bring this on them. If not then the alternative is something happened to the wyvern to make it act out of it's normal." Ronin walks to the town to investigate a bit. "The typical case is that the leaf wyvern made its territory nearby and the townsfolk chose to go after it themselves instead of hiring someone who knows what they're doing. That would have probably made the monster a lot more furious." Lars and Ronin approached the charred area of the field and observed every last detail. He saw a footprint with three prongs, easily belonging to a wyvern, nearby and looked at it intently. Walking over to investigate, he said, "This indentation is deep, so it has to be a really large and heavy one. Judging by the look of it, I'd figure it is about 4 days old." "So it's still kind of fresh." He feels the grass "How long do leaf wyvern live? Full life span. I'll explain why it matters in a bit." Ronin then feels the dirt of the footprint. "The record for the longest lifespan of a single Leaf Wyvern is 37 years." Lars looked up at Ronin. "Why?" "Lifespan helps to know when a animal or monster might migrate to mate. If it lived a long time it could have been that the town was built on top of where it hatched and no one even knew." Ronin stated simply, almost coldly. "I see. Well, i know that Leaf Wyverns lay their eggs and build their nests among dense foliage. That nest is where they live for about five years before they leave the nest and test their own wings, if you know what I'm saying. I doubt this open field would be where it leaves its nest. Then again, anything is possible in a world like this." Just before Lars spoke another word, the weary voice of a woman interjected saying, "I assume you two must be the hunters from the Orion's Belt Guild whom we requested?" "He is, I'm not. I'm after the monster as well so I guess you can lump me in with this guy. Not to big of a deal as long as the job gets done I assume." Ronin clears his throat a bit. "Sounds fair. We need that monster that has been zapping our town into a frenzy put down." The woman turned to Lars. "if you want to know what happened, the mmonster fried our crops there. I am glad that it didn't burn down any shelters, but providing food for Thunberg has been a big problem since this thin showed up and attacked us." As the woman was speaking, Lars noticed the woman's eyes slightly shift to his left. He questioned, "Are you sure this creature just... appeared and attacked you? Leaf Wyversn, such as the ones you described in the job request, don't just attack people out of the blue." The woman stayed silent for a few moments until she spoke softly, "Well, we were trying to clear some forest to the west of here to create land for farming, then two of our villagers stumbled upon its nest and subsequently got injured before we were able to flee back to our vill-" "Sorry to interrupt, but did the mayor of this village get permission from the Northwest Directorial Guild to clear part of that land." Lars said while folding his arms and glaring at the woman. "Yes, I did. Now, we managed to make it back to the village with only two injuries, the monster followed us and started wreaking havoc. Our village mages managed to repel it, but it keeps coming back. in the last attack, three of our mages got injured and one of them just recovered from one that almost killed him. I was going to send some mages to try and take down this thing in its nest, but a local farmer strongly advised we call professionals do the job." "Good call on your part and the woman's. Trust me when i tell you, going into this monster's nest and fighting it there would be borderline suicide for a good reason." Lars turned to Ronin. "You know, I knew it! There is a nest nearby." Ronin nods "And suicide sounds like a cake walk. What way to the nest?" He seamed to take this mater lightly or thought he was good enough for it not to mater. Ether way the thought that he could die does not seem to bother Ronin at all. The woman pointed to the west. in the distance, one could see a dent in the border of trees that surrounded the glade. She said, "In that small clearing at the edge of this field, go inward a little ways and you'll see it." "Ronin, i know your blood is boiling, but wait a minute before you go out and fight this thing. Leaf Wyverns craft their nests in such a way that they always have the tactical advantage. Even I wouldn't fight it when it has the home field advantage. It uses the foliage and trees as a way of rebounding its electrical attacks so it can hit intruders from all angles and trap them. we are gonna have to bring it away from its nest, and I know just how to do that." There is a glow from Ronin, and after a bit he is in his Raidin armor. "I can handle myself." He then quickly requips his 'Dragon's Bane' sword. "Just need the right tools for the job." Though impressed by his weapon and armor set, Lars glared. "And you need the right tactics, too. I have the right tools for this job as well, but they won't matter if I don't use them correctly, and the same goes for you. Even if we survive, it would be a waste of time and magic to fight this thing in a place where it has the inherent advantage over us. We need to bring it someplace else where it has less area control." "Yeah, I had a plan for that. I just wait till it comes back to attack the town again. Then I pop out and have at it. From what I can tell it comes to town regularly and it should keep doing so. It has no reason not to after all." It all seemed so simple to Ronin, as if he had this all planed way ahead of time even though it was a simple plan. "Well, since this glade is the closest clearing to the nest, it's good you at least thought of that." He calmed down, assured that Ronin wouldn't charge into the nest. "Oh... i forgot to mention that one of our villagers smashed one of the eggs when he stumbled upon the nest." The woman spoke up. At this, Lars' eyes widened. "That explains so much! it's no wonder this creature is attacking the village! These guys are very vindictive creatures. Smash one of their eggs and they become bloodthirsty after the one who did it. That said..." He turned to Ronin, "I have an idea, then; one that will put the odds further in our favor." Ronin tilted his head to the side "Alright, I'll hear out your idea and your plan. But If I don't like it I'll just go and do my own thing without you. Understood?" "Sheesh, man. Anyway, you mentioned the idea of waiting for this creature to attack again to ambush it, but we know this monster is after the person who smashed one of its eggs. The idea is simple, I go in into the nest, smash one or two of the eggs, and bolt out of there and into this clearing. The monster will be guaranteed to be fixated on me, so what I'll do is keep the fight within the clearing, but away from this village." Lars' body glowed a faint yellow color and as fast as it happened, it faded with Lars wearing his Superconductor Armor and a pair of metal greaves surrounded by springs. "Just so you know, Escaping and distracting is my specialty" "And as you bait the monster I come in and get it. Seems like a solid plan. There is one issue, how do you plan on getting into the nest without getting killed by the thing?" Ronin smiled at Lars "After all, you'll be on it's home turf and unless it's away you'd have a hard time getting to the eggs." "I've been in enough nests to know where and how these creatures hide their eggs. As for getting out, I will take to the sky by running up the trees, and use a special hookshot bow to bring me back to the glade so I don't have to run through forest. All of this will be quick, and the instant I touch those eggs, I bolt." Lars walked toward the west with adrenaline pumping in his blood. He looked at the woman. "Can you see that the townsfolk are properly sheltered?" "Yes," The woman bowed and proceeded to run to all the houses, spreading word of the fight that is about to unfold. Lars turned to Ronin. "Get ready. I should be back in no more than 10 minutes. If you hear a loud roar, that means I smashed the eggs. Once you do, prepare to get your hands dirty." He smiled. "We got this." "If you say so. But if you die I'm not going to take your corpse back to your guild." he starts to move over to the opening where the wyvern will be lead. "I'll be in place, so don't screw this up." With excitement flooding his veins and his mind racing to plan ahead, he responded, "I assume all responsibility for my actions when on the field, so i wouldn't expect you to." With that, he lowered his body and with one powerful push of his right leg, he launched himself into the sea of trees ahead where his fate lay solely in the hands of his own resourcefulness and abilities. No Time to Say Hello. Lars knew he arrived at the nest when he the trunks of cedar trees surrounding him covered in gashes of varying sizes. There was little shrubbery scattered across the forest floor with the exception of a small patch of bushes to his right a few meters away. "THe eggs are in there," he thought to himself as he walked up to them. The forest was quiet, not even the wind blew. The Leaf Wyvern was out hunting, so he thought. Lars wasted no time in digging underneath the bushes to find the eggs. Once he spotted them, he removed one from the foliage and placed it on the ground. "This creature can smell me from miles away, so it should be on its way knowing my scent came from the direction of its nest," he whispered. Not after long, he heard the flapping of wings, generating short but strong gusts as the Leaf Wyvern Descended unto its nest to investigate. Lars picked up the egg and took a step back. He stared at the 10-foot tall creature laced with brown scales that looked like rotting leaves, and dark-green webbing between its wings. Its horn was jagged and had a charm to it: looking as if it was a bunch of leaves tied together to create a sharp talon. It turned to meet Lars' challenging gaze. He immediately threw the egg in the air, turned around, and slung himself into the direction of the Glade. Lars didn't bother to see the egg shatter, nor the wyvern rattle its leaf-like scales as it let out a screeching, wrathful roar. Lars jumped up onto the trunk of a nearby tree, bearing down his weight as he used the effect of his Spring Greaves to push him up. As he pushed, he immediately said, "Requip: Critical Link!" as his greaves, in a sudden and swift flash of bright yellow light, disappeared with his Jet Greaves taking their place. He activated his new armor piece that let forth a powerful burst of blue flares that, with the help of leftover magic from the Spring Greaves, propelled Lars upward at incredible speed. He ascended above the forest in almost and instant. He held out his arms and used his requip magic to equip on his arms his Hooking Gauntlets. Holding out his arms, he let forth one hook attached to rope from each of his gauntlets. They soared through the air, just as did the Leaf Wyvern when ascended behind him and gathered electricity in his talons, charging headstrong. 2 meters from Ronin's feet, the serrated hooks dug deep into the ground before Lars retracted them. Since they were stuck, Lars could only be pulled into the direction of the glade, and so he did with enough speed to land in front of the mysterious hunter with the wyvern only a few moments behind. He said, "Requip," as a flash of light appeared around his arms, only to disappear immediately with Lars holding his Fire Drake Pike in his right hand. Its gold-silver colored shaft juxtaposed the glowing-red blade at the top. The creature didn't land as much as it slammed itself unto the ground, discharging the lightning it stored in its claws. It stared at Lars, ignoring Ronin's presence as it rattled it scales and let forth electrical sparks. It glared at Lars with eyes that only wanted to see him dead and nothing less. "You really pissed this thin off, but that was the goal after all." He takes a combat stance before running and jumping up to make a slash at it's back while it was attacking Lars. Ronin dragged the blade down the Wyvern's side from the back. The blade cut a bit into the scales and wounded the wyvern. "Maybe this will get it to notice me." The wyvern, in its wild rage, didn't feel the damage done to his spine, and as it charged forward to Lars while playing no mind to ROnin, a small trail of blood followed it. Lars looked at its movement and noticed that in spite of ignoring the pain, its movement speed was slowed by just enough to give him time to thoroughly plan his next move. He swiftly requipped to his Helix-Blade Hammer and took a step back, observing the wyvern's running speed. Its brown horn now glowed a rich dark green as yellow sparks illuminated its rough texture. "This will be the last time you use that horn, buddy." He said. When the Wyvern was in range, Lars swung the hammer around his right shoulder as he took a step forward with his right leg. The motion of his body backed up the silver-black hammer laces with blades in a spiral pattern. He shouted, "Hya!" as it slammed down onto the the right side of its head, just as the base of its horn. The force of impact combined with its gyrating blades cut the horn just before shattering it into uneven pieces. Its head lowered along with the hammer, and Lars used requip to un-summon it. His hands now free, Lars summoned on his left arm his Burst Shield, and his Luminaria sword on his right. He did this in the few seconds that it took the wyvern to lift its head back up. As its head raised, Lars activated Luminaria's water propulsion system as he placed it underneath its chin. he then activated his Burst SHield and with one swift motion, he jumped and thrust it up underneath the sword and the monster's chin. As he gracefully ascended, the sword released a bright burt of white light that scattered sprays of water all around that made contact with trace electricity to create even bigger sparks that further disoriented it. The Wyvern staggered and wobbled on its feet. As Lars landed, he shouted, "Ronin, I broke its horn, so its electric attacks should be weaker! Quick, do as much damage as you can while it's disoriented!" "Working on it, it might take a few hits before I cut it enough yo kill it. So just hold on as long as you can." Ronin them makes a cut at the wyverns right arm, or what would count as an arm in the hopes that will slow it down and give Lars and himself the time they need. It placed both its wing talons on the ground. Lars looked behind him to see the village a little over 50 meters away. He then observed the monster's pose and knew what was about to happen. "Shit," Lars said as he requipped to his Bussard Ramset. In a flash of light, Lars' superconductor armor was replaced by bulky silver armor that made him look chubby. In his left hand was a silver shield that looked like it was inverted and curved outward away from lars while in his right, a heavy gunlance with a thick metal cable connecting to his armor and the shield. As he saw the wyvern's scales rattle, and the webbing of its wings flutter erratically, Lars shouted "Ronin, get behind me! It's about to discharge!" Ronin moved behind Lars as Lars instructed before stating "My armor can take some lightning, but it is better to avoid the hit anyway I guess." He then brought his blade up just in case. Lars activated his shield which emanated waves of magic that looked like heat haze. The monster roared and its scales swiveled violently as it let forth an omnidirectional wave of electrivity powerful enough to push Lars back. The waves of magic energy from his shield drew in the power through the shield into his armor and his gunlance. A meter on the gunlance filled up slowly with red light creeping upward. "I'm sure you would have been fine, but I need you next to me so you can launch a counterattack. When this thing stops attacking, you will have about 8 seconds to punish. This armor i am using absorbs massive amounts of magical energy and converts it into pure fire. Do you have a weapon that can absorb flames?" Lars' paused between words to focus on absorbing the attack. "Yeah." there is a flash as his 'Dragon's Bane' is replaced with the 'Ingus Blade' "I'm ready." He takes a stance so that the blade is in a good spot to be hit with the fire. The Wyvern's attack suddenly stopped. "huh?" Lars thought to himself. With the meter almost halfway full, he pointed the gunlance at Ronin. "Get ready!" He shouted as he pulled the trigger. A powerful jet of flames made the barrel of the weapon glow red with intense heat as it flew through the air to Ronin's blade. "Looks like when you severed the wing, It caused the wyvern to short circuit during its attack!" "Right." he puts the blade in the way of the fire and when it gets close all the fire is drawn into the blade, then Ronin makes a slash aiming at the wyvern and the fire comes out and goes at the wyvern a bit bigger then it was when it hit the blade before. "Take this!!" Ronin proclaimed as he sent the flame out. The conflagrant edge of Ronin's Ignis blade spouted bright yellow flares at such force that to the wyvern, it felt like a hot hammer pounding and shattering its electrified scales. Lars shut his eyes to keep at bay a light so intense as to penetrate that of the afternoon sun to graze the faces of anxious Thunberg citizens huddled around their windows to witness the spectacle in the safety of their homes. When the flames ceased, Lars opened his eyes to see the leaf wyvern fall over. The attack cut halfway through its neck with the damage done concealed by charred, smoldering flesh. Lars lowered his shield and looked at the creature. "Damn, you killed it so fast that it didn't even have time to scream," He said. Ronin requips back to his normal outfit and weapon "Yeah, I did not expect that much. The old man was not joking when he sold me this blade. I should try and find him again, he does good work." Lars did the same, changing from his bulky Bussard Ramset into only shorts so he can cool off. "Tell me about it. It was a swift and clean kill; just the way I like it." He looked at the wound of the lifeless monster. In spite of its flamboyant delivery, the attack left a gash only 2 inches long. "And that was some precision, too. Not only is he dead, but you left some more scales for me- or rather, us to harvest. You did a much better job than i expected, not that I thought you wouldn't hold your own of course." Ronin nods "Yeah, I should take the scales I get to that blacksmith that made my ingus blade. He seems to like it when people bring him odd things and ask it to be made into weapons. Likes the challenge or maybe just the change of pace. He moves around a lot though, but I've found him more then once." He moves closer the the now dead wyvern and pokes at it a bit before felling a scale with his hand. Category:RP Category:Roleplay Category:Role Play Category:Shadowbaneleader Category:Skydek